Deatons planned a cousin dinner (3 soups, bread, chips and dip, hot chocolate and warm cookies) and had Elf projected on the big screen. My husband arrived from weather that was going to be 0 degree (yes, I used the singular form of the temperature gauge), so he took off his jacket and enjoyed the 'warmth' of an Arizona winter night. Oh how I miss those desert nights...
Court-ready-to-pop and Jared next to the fire. Court has an 'in-home' incubator, why is she next to the fire?
So very comfortable and enjoyable. I think a tradition may be on the horizon....but only if Kathi & co. have more help to take down and clean everything so she isn't up late at night or early morning doing all the dirty work for our play time.
Waldies were smart and brought their giant bean bags from their house.
While others were still waiting on their family pictures and before the feast was set, Swald and B had some one-on-one time. She played make believe, took him to play red light green light and even flew some imaginary bumble bees with him. It may be her extra education in 'special ed' that has equipped her with an incredible ability to interact with and encourage Brenden's fun and game play. He was quite taken with her. It was an easy interaction for both.
Great Poppy has not been schooled in Special Education, however, Brenden still sat and played with his Poppy's Dad. Great Grandpa let Brenden use his leg as a ramp for the cars to slide down. Kyleigh saw those two having fun, so she later came over and joined. Great Grandpa needs to get some barriers on his ramp though cause the cars rarely reached the end of the ramp before falling off. Oh well, kids didn't mind. :)
They still lost..... right?
My plate was absolutely filled before turning the final corner for the last 3 pans and bowls of edible goods. Had to make a return trip. I don't think I was alone.
The 2 on the right are responsible for all the incredible food and the family being gathered. I think I was around 6 or so when they began this feasting tradition at their home. They have been feeding a whole football team lately. Next time Great Grandpa wears that shirt, ask him what his pocket can do.
A few family members gathered. That's a pretty neat scene.
A few sides
Cousin Dustin with his very nice choice of feast meat.
Turkey Heart that Grandpa snuck into the gravy. :)
Apparently bumblebees dance too. Brenden kept saying the bumblebees were mean. Maybe Swald was telling him that there are some dancing ones too. I don't know. The Waldies are a dancing bunch of people. I hear Swald is responsible for their Dancing Dish-doing.
Uh oh, the mean ones came out again.
This is my cousin's cute kid, Jeffry. I'm told he used to be a little rough on the kids...male and female alike. However, he decided differently with Kyleigh. He would come up and give her hugs...
....and a smack on the lips. At first Kyleigh didn't know what to do. Later, she joined in.
ASU Football games with the family. This year hasn't been a stellar year, so we weren't so sure what kind of game we were going to watch, but this one turned out to be a great showing of quality ASU football.
Even Brenden agrees...
Brooke, Brinley, Asha Pagie, Taylor and Maddy. All really good friends.
And we're also pretty good friends with each other....
You would be VERY hard pressed to find 2 guys more dedicated to Arizona sports than these two. Quite serious when it comes to their games.
Speaking of serious, what a seriously great person. Hard worker, creative (can put on a party with her mother like nobody's business), incredible leader in the Church (which is wonderful at a time when that's not always the most 'popular' thing to do/be), and can set hard goals for herself and accomplish them-she trained for and ran a half marathon!! I am winded after 2 miles...13 of those?!! Not me. I need a ball and a hoop or bat to keep me entertained if I'm supposed to run that long.
Waldie Football Dance party
The next day, we took our annual trip to the zoo. How many people were there this year? I think we hit a record. Even though we lost 2 shortly after arriving to go get stitches.
Court and Jared were always good for holding a child of mine and entertaining them. Now what am I going to do when they bring along one of their own? Guess I'll manage. They really are some fun people...Jace is a lucky chap.
We were told there was some animal hiding, and Brenden was upset he couldn't see it. He's asking Poppy where it is. I'm being redundant, but I really enjoy how 'raw' kids' emotions are. They just don't hide very much and when they feel something, it's usually to a more intense level than a normal adult. Sometimes that's not always good...like not getting a toy they just saw in the store that they want....but other times it's good....like Brenden telling me for the past week that SANTA IS COMING!!!!!!! with his eyes bulging and hands up in the air.
Haven't figured out Kyleigh's happy place yet. Today, there was a big dump truck and a stroller in the middle of the room. She walked right over the the two and started pushing the dump truck around. She can make all the train and plane sounds. Trent tells me I need to play dolls with her to help her be a little more girly. I said that's fine, as long as she also knows how to throw a baseball.
All Waldie children are great with kids. Something they are born with. Most assuredly comes from their Mother.
Court ready to pop. And looks really great as an 8 month pregnant lady. When I talked with her not even 2 hours after she delivered her boy, she mentioned that it was painful and during the labor part didn't want to do this again, but once Jace came out, she said it was all worth it and was ready for another one. Good, cause with Mom and Dad's new addition at the house, we need LOTS of grandkids to make good use of it. At least some regulars to visit since there are 3 outsiders that don't frequent the house but a handful of times a year.
Somehow, Dad has managed to keep all his kids to join him at the Zoo. I think Maddy is at the age where she is allowed to go shopping with Mom, but Steph, Court, Ash, Maddy and I all went to the zoo with Dad. Probably was alot cheaper that way though.
I thought they used to have live Camel rides at the zoo (maybe I'm thinking of another place) but they must have downgraded to a dead lizard for kids to ride.
The trip was good. The drive home ended up being expended by a few hours due to a bad storm, and we all ended up like Kyleigh in this picture, but there's no place like home for the holidays. Great trip.
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